FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

May 28, 2008

CHENETTE APPOINTED DEAN OF THE FACULTY AT VASSAR COLLEGE

GRINNELL, IA - Jonathan Chenette, who has served Grinnell College for 25 years in faculty and administrative capacities, has been appointed dean of the faculty at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., effective July 21. A member of the Grinnell music faculty since 1983, Chenette was appointed associate dean of the college in 2004. He has held the Blanche Johnson Professor of Music endowed chair since 1997 and has composed vocal and instrumental works that have received international recognition.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for Jon and recognizes his exceptional abilities as an effective administrator, faculty scholar, and creative musician," said President Russell K. Osgood. "Grinnell College and the state of Iowa have benefited from Jon’s sensibilities for the people and the place, which many of his compositions have also reflected."

Chenette has been involved in the Iowa music scene, where he has served as chair of the Iowa Composers Forum, and in the Grinnell community, where he has served as senior warden of the local Episcopal Church. Jeannie Kern Chenette, a lecturer and applied music associate in the college’s music department, has also been active in fine arts leadership roles in the community and the local schools. Vassar College is a highly selective liberal arts college with approximately 2,400 students and 300 faculty members.

"Grinnell is very fortunate to have benefited from Jon’s expertise for more than two decades, and while we regret his move, we applaud this opportunity for him to excel at yet another extraordinary liberal-arts college," Osgood said.

Osgood also noted that, in recent years, several long-term faculty and administrators have had career advancement opportunities both at Grinnell, with Paula Smith recently appointed as dean, and at other highly-regarded institutions such as Dartmouth College, Denison University, and Doane College.

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